The Trackhouse Racing driver held station inside the top 10 until the right front tyre let go.
“It feels like there’s a problem,” van Gisbergen radioed to his crew.
“The right front is completely gone.”
Van Gisbergen’s suspicions were confirmed on Lap 11 when he pitted and the team found the right front tyre pressure had fallen to just eight pounds.
Crew chief Stephen Doran reported, “It was a right front tyre issue there Shane. It should be all good now.
“We had a puncture in the right front. It had eight pounds when we come in.”
In that sequence, the #88 Chevrolet Camaro lost four laps.
Fox Sports commentator and well-known crew chief Steve Letarte said van Gisbergen’s race effectively turned the 400-lap contest into a test session.
“SVG knows, he was confident, he came to pit road, maybe one more corner, eight pounds and that thing is all but going to the wheel,” said Letarte.
“Even seconds off the pace, you’re hitting the wall if you have a flat tyre that goes down completely here at Dover. Nice job by SVG.
“He might get one lap here. Now it’s about running all 400 and learning as much as you can.”
Despite an early competition caution, van Gisbergen wasn’t able to get one of his laps back after Cody Ware in the #15 Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang became the first car a lap down.
As Stage 1 wore on, van Gisbergen was consigned to last place as he lost another lap to end the first stanza 37th and five laps down.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott won Stage 1 in the #9 Camaro. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell was second in the #20 Toyota Camry while Denny Hamlin was third in the other JGR Camry.
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